Fix for incompatible graphics for The Sims 3 on Mac

Update 23rd July 2018:
If you’re still struggling with this fix I am trying to collect information to create custom GraphicsCards.sgr and GraphicsRules.sgr files for Mac users. The aim is to upload the files so all the user has to do is download them and copy the information into their game instead of applying this fix themselves. Please read my post here and help if you can.

If you have one of the following Macs the chances are The Sims 3 doesn’t work for you. You can probably load the Launcher but the game gets stuck on the blue screen with the green plumbob. This is because your graphics card is newer than the game and isn’t included in the game files. We’ve now come up with a fix which should work. Huge thanks has to be given to tmethei over on the official forums who set the ball rolling and came up with the first workaround for this. Massive thanks also to the11thmoon and wendyp7 for their help in adding the details for the AMD Radeon R9 M370X and the Intel HD 6000.

As well as the game freezing at the blue screen you may also be experiencing the following error message when trying to restart the game – “Cannot start the process when the game is running. Please quit the game and try again”. You need to manually force quit the game in Activity Monitor. If you’re not sure how to do this please read instructions here.

Bear in mind this is still, and probably always will be, a work in progress so any and all input is hugely welcome and greatly received. It is also worth reading this page detailing a fix for the Unknown Error message that El Capitan and Sierra users with Late Night and/or Ambitions installed receive. Late Night and Ambitions are hugely problematic EPs and this fix may just be quite magical in getting the game working again for users with unsupported graphics cards.

Below is a list of all affected Macs. The Model Identifier accurately identifies your Mac and will determine whether you need to follow the given instructions. To find the Model Identifier click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your desktop and then About this Mac. Now click on System Report. In the Hardware Overview you will see the Model Identifier:

If your Mac isn’t listed it’s because no one has posted a successful edit to the files for your Mac. You need to try and figure it out yourself. The steps are exactly the same but the text, and obviously the Device ID, will be different depending on which Intel graphics you have. If you manage to get the game working on a Mac which isn’t listed then help others and comment with what worked for you.

Preparation:

Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your desktop and then About this Mac. Now click on System Report.

In the window that opens click on Graphics/Displays on the left hand side:

Make a note of the Vendor details and the Device ID (If you have the high end 15″ MacBook Pro with dedicated graphics you need to note down the details for that graphics card as the game will use the dedicated, more powerful card, not the integrated Intel):

Now go to Applications > The Sims 3, right click on The Sims 3 base game and select Show Package Contents. Navigate to Contents > Resources > transgaming > c_drive > Program Files > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Game > Bin and copy and paste the GraphicsCards.sgr and GraphicsRules.sgr files onto your desktop. This is a backup in case the files get screwed up in the editing process.

Right click on the GraphicsCards.sgr file, select Open With then Other. Choose TextEdit then click on Open.

Choose your Mac:

The details you are going to be adding to the .sgr files now depends on what Mac you have. Click on the link below for your specific model:

In all respect, the direction was a bit muddled. From Applications, you go into the The Sims 3 folder (that is, you left-click it). Then, there should be an .app file (that is, an application) called The Sims 3, with the plumbob icon. _That_ is the one you right-click.

Please can you help me? I have a late 2012, 13″ Macbook pro, with a model identifier of 9,2 and Intel HD Graphics 4000. I would really appreciate help, I have too many Sims games to have to just give up the idea of ever playing them again, since switching to a Mac.

My Mac is also unlisted (MacBookPro 17-inch late 2011; ID: MacBookPro8,3; GC: Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB; Vendor: ATI 0x1002). I have read and ATT’s
Let’s the suggested tips on How to Play on a Mac, attempted several fresh installs, but I still cannot get past the loading screen. And this is with just the basic game install, no expansions, no CC/mods. I have never been able to play this game on my computer, as I gave up the attempt about a month after Sims3 came out thinking, “If I just wait, the answers will come…”

Having rediscovered my game now years down the line, I’d love to actually, you know… play it? 😛 Sadly, I haven’t read anything specific to the 17-inch MacBookPro, and none of the general Mac suggestions I’ve attempted have been successful. Thoughts?

Your Mac is supported but you haven’t stated what version of macOS you’re running, nor whether you’re trying disc or download? The 17″ was the same spec. as the high end 15″, just with a bigger screen.

So the game is pretty much unplayable in El Capitan and Sierra due to it not being supported. EA haven’t released an update since January 2014. Even if you could get it to work you would have to download it through Origin as the disc version of the game is completely incompatible since El Capitan. Read through my Sims 3 pages and you’ll find more info – disc error issues, Unknown Error issues, the list is endless.

I also have the same Mac, Late Night and Ambitions do not work (pets, world adventures, and university life work fine!). I have tried to solution for unknown error pop up which seemed to work and I am able to get past the game launcher window. However it freezes on the blue loading plumber page and will not progress further. Any suggestions?

Has anyone else tried this with the early 2015 12″ macbook (Intel HD 5300) – I followed the instructions step by step and it didn’t work for me 😦 Anyone else had much luck with this laptop? I know being fan-less it’s not exactly a ‘gaming’ laptop but I run sims 4 for hours and hours on end – I just miss the occasional half hour on Sims 3!

Okay here’s my fix. I know that graphics cards are an issue, they were with mine. I have an early 15 Macbook pro and I’ve been fighting trying to play the Sims 3 for almost a year now. I finally figured it out. It’s not convenient but it works. I plugged my macbook pro into my TV with a HDMI cable and it worked! I also installed ALL of my games by disk only, and I run them by disk only. Bummer because on my other computer that that I no longer use (because my sims on that computer crashes every 30 minutes) I found out that I had bought the seasons and university life through origin. I can live without University but I NEEEED RAIN! Somethings so calming about a storm in the sims. Well That’s my two cents. Believe me, I called EA about 1,000 times AND I went to the Apple store and was there for about 45 minutes talking to about 3 different people. I think I actually went twice. They told me to call the Mac helpline and they did nothing so my mom who is an engineer ended up fixing it. My mom is the best. ❤ I love you Mom! ❤ ❤ ❤

– I also found out that El Captain is not compatible with the Sims 3. Is this right? That's what the EA guy told me on the phone. So if you are thinking of upgrading don't do it. And if you are thinking of downgrading to Yosemite (which is what I have) USE DROPBOX! It's free (unless you got a lot of stuff) and It's really easy and awesome to use! The Sims 3 literally takes up all of my gigabytes of space so I installed the dropbox app and store all of my documents on the internet. Plus I can access them from anywhere! And it's really easy to re-boot a computer and upload all my files. Just some advise, but you do what you want.

Hope this helps some people. Here's a link for connecting your mac to a TV –

Ever since downloading mine i have never even seen the loading screen anytime i try to open the game i always get “an unknown error occured” right from being on origin. I have a macbook air 13″ from auagst 2015

i have the early 2015 macbook air 13″. its all worked, except when the town loads its pretty much a grey screen with the odd bits of town loaded. how do i fix this? also doing these changed seems to void the uninstallation for me

greetings!
first of [and above] all, my sheer gratitude for your blog and your predisposition in helping us — Sims™ 3 users — with your time plus all the data you assemble.

i’ve been facing some snags with my Mac Mini [the late 2012 model] — a computer used mostly for playing Sims™ 3 and to navigate these turbulent Internet waters. even though the Mac video card model is included and described in both GraphicCards.sgr and GraphicRules.sgr [as “IvyBridge”], i often get the “exception raised” crash when starting the game.
it’s a peculiar situation since,
• i repeatedly delete the cache documents from the ./Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/ folder before i start playing;
• even though the Mac Mini has a large amount of memory, i also purge it with “Memory Clean” — a free application i downloaded from the App Store — before i begin playing (and, at times, when playing the game).
[ note: the above procedures were gathered from several sites ]

after doing some research and reinstalling [earlier today] OS X 10.9.5, i’m inclined to believe the graphics card is not powerful enough even to handle a light game scenario — e.g. one without “Mods” and “Downloads.” i actually tried it; the game crashed when opening.

i don’t know what else to do, Bluebell; any thoughts or ideas are truly welcomed.

Yep, it sounds like your Intel HD 4000 is to blame. It doesn’t matter that you have 16Gb RAM, the game can only access up to 2Gb. This is thanks to Cider, the ‘wrapper’ applied to the Windows version of the game to make it Mac ‘compatible’. Upgrading your OS to Yosemite may help as I think it should up the VRAM for the graphics to 1.5Gb. I can’t remember if it was Yosemite or El Capitan which gave the integrated graphics a further VRAM boost. If you upgrade to El Capitan you may need to uninstall and reinstall the game again as it has been a bit buggy.

greetings! [i] hope this message finds you well and happy.
thanks for your prompt answer; it took me a little time to respond you for i was (and still am) in the middle of a complicated [music] production, and my days have been about six hours too short.
anyway: i asked a friend who is an engineer as well as a Mac technician about these problems my Mac mini has been facing, and he asked me to perform some video tests — benching and two other methods — in order to establish where the problem really resides.
i did. after looking at the results, he asserted;
• the version of Cider used by [r. 8359] partially conflicts with OS X 10.9.x and newer, especially with the Sleep/Wake and Standby [system] configurations;
• the Mac Mini, for having 16 GB RAM, should be allocating more VRAM than it presently does.

he then suggested i should try some simple procedures; i did, and now i’m able to play Sims™ 3 again. even though i use a Mac Mini, these should work on every Mac:

by doing this, the user avoids conflicts between Cider and the OS X's Power Management system;

2. do you see the line where "hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage" appears?
"sleepimage" is a huge (almost 5 GB and rather unnecessary) image file used by the system for its waking-up; yet, if the user chooses, s/he may delete it — no harm will be done, but 4.97 GB will be saved in the process.
to access the ./var/vm/ folder easily, the user should employ the "Go to Folder" command (from the Finder: shift+command+g) and type "/var/vm/" without the quotes. also, to delete the file, the Administrator's Password will be necessary;

3. the preference file "com.apple.windowserver.plist" (/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist) should be often deleted — especially after a major system update — for it gets easily corrupted. OS X will reconstruct it during startup, so no harm is done;

4. pressing and holding the "Shift" key during startup loads the Mac in "Safe Mode." this procedure helps to "clean" the system, thus should also be taken frequently. when used, the "Shift" key may be released when the Apple logo and progress bar appear.
further, to leave "Safe Mode," just reboot the Mac without holding the "Shift" key;

5. lastly, it's a good policy to often boot the Mac resetting its NVRAM. in order to do it, one shall hold the "Shift+Command+P+R" during startup until the computer restarts and s/he hears the startup sound for a second time.

that's it so far, Bluebell.
i now shall get back to work, hence i leave you with a friendly hug and my deepest gratitude.

That’s really helpful and informative – thanks! But, I don’t understand why the Sleep/Wake and Standby configuration can cause issues with the game? Although if it is memory related, as you say, then your Mac should easily be able to handle it as it has 16Gb RAM? The game is not capable of using over 2Gb RAM because Cider was never updated to address the LAA (Large Address Aware) issue and increase the RAM to 4Gb like the Windows version of the game was (I think it was patch 1.17 or around that time that PC users got the update). You can even see the RAM limit in the game files – right click on the game in your Applications folder and select Show Package Contents then navigate to Contents > Resources > transgaming > c_drive > Program Files > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Game > Bin and open the Sims3.ini file (TextEdit will open it). There will be a line near the top that says MemoryUsageLimit = 20000000 It’s crap but then Cider was evil and EA should never have used it, we really got a raw deal 😦

The NVRAM is a great tip and I already suggest it in my Sims 3 help threads on the forums but maybe I should add it to this one too. Safe mode is good but I wouldn’t recommend doing it very often. If it is necessary to do it often then it’s a very good indicator that all is not well with your Mac overall so normally a clean reinstall of the OS does wonders.

And the WindowServer. This was a bug in Yosemite but I believe it was patched in an update and is no longer an issue? The problem was excessive CPU usage which can be easily identified in Activity Monitor. There’s a great article here about it when it was identified back in 2014.

I love all tips and help so keep them coming! Without suggestions and workarounds I think the Mac community would have given up on Sims 3 a long time ago.

greetings! [i] hope everything is going well with you and your loved ones.

thanks for sharing this great article — “Prevent the WindowServer process from dragging Yosemite down.” Mavericks [the OS currently installed in my Mac “petite”] suffers with a similar issue when handling Cider; one more reason for its tendency to crash.

>> “I don’t understand why the Sleep/Wake and Standby configuration can cause issues with the game.”

as far as i grasped:
Cider — during game opening, and through the usage of Apple Events (arguments related to Global System Dictionary) — tries to modify some of the system’s settings, especially those associated with the Energy Saver.
if you have “/The Sims3.app/Contents/MacOS/cider” opened with a text editor such as BBEdit, you can clearly see such arguments throughout the wrapper’s document.
the reason might be related to intermittent bugs from Leopard till Mountain Lion ( OS Xs 10.5 ~ 10.8, 2009 ~ 2012) that affected the video output, and were generated during the StandBy and Sleep/WakeUp processes.
[ note: i remember them well: my Mac would wake with flickering video, washed-out colours, total blackouts, and so forth. these bugs have been solved in Mavericks and newer OS. ]
i guess that’s the motive The Sims™ 3 — actually Cider — won’t allow the system to get into Sleep Mode; it was/is its way to deal with these issues.
now: since Mavericks’ and newer systems handle events differently — the Global System Dictionary and Applescript have been rewritten several times since Leopard —, and because Cider is such an old wrapper, it’s just bonafide to tell both root and system to leave the Standby and Sleep/Wake settings “alone.”

that’s what i understood, Bluebell. i might be going completely wrong about the matter, yet it makes sense. when (and if) i get the time, i shall investigate it deeper: probably most of the problems described here can be solved by tinkering Cider itself.

Cider trying to monopolise the OS makes perfect sense. My Mac does weird charging things when I play TS3 and never goes to sleep. I think EA all but gave up on updating the game because of the Cider issues. They confirmed they used a 3rd party here to produce the Mac version. I also had correspondence with Transgaming where I asked them why the game does not perform on an equal footing with Windows users, as was stated on their website. They just bounced it back to EA saying it was up to them to produce the game as the developer buys the licence from Transgaming, Transgaming just provide the tools with which to do the execution. So I completely agree, Cider needs some updating but without the tools or knowledge I’m not the person to do it, even though I would LOVE the challenge 😀

the Internet still astounds me; what an amazing library it is.
right after writing to you early this morning, i decided to take a quick tour on the subject “Cider Wrapper:” Google and Yahoo presented me with the (already standard) many-million results — most of them gibberish; some, however, were quite solid.
after the usual ping-pong (follow a link from a forum answer, follow another one from a blog, etc.), i was taken into a forum named “Porting Team” — http://portingteam.com/frontpage —, built in 2009 and maintained by Mac users interested in porting games from other platforms into OS X.
there is a great deal of information in the forum; only by skimming through few threads, i became aware it is a sort of a miracle to see Cider functional under OSs such as Mavericks or Yosemite-El Capitan [especially with the new screen and Mission Control features drenched in the latter].
one of the forum users, a fellow that goes by the handle “Drakulix,” have already worked on three different projects for The Sims™ 3. if it interests you, Drakulix’s files may be downloaded from his Media Fire account: https://www.mediafire.com/?g5ud1k26lbbkg.
[ note: there are several Cider projects in Drakulix’s account; the Sims™ 3 files are named “Cider XXXX sims3.app.zip” ]
although Drakulix’s Cider versions appear to be rather old (the most recent Cider build reads 3052, while The Sims™ 3’s info.plist schema informs “CiderBuild 9355”), i shall try them some time in the near future. concurrently, since the game will be ported onto OS X, i believe a native Windows copy of Sims™ 3 is needed. [i] will have to visit some torrent sites for that. 😛

porting is an unknown and dark territory to me; luckily, there are forum members willing to help. i’ll bother them. 🙂

that’s it, Bluebell;
thanks again for your time and [awesome] help, and please accept my apologies if I monopolized your attention.

I don’t have the issue of sims not loading past the plumbob but I do have very basic looking graphics when I play, and no amount of changing the graphic settings is helping! Do you think that this could help my situation? I love sims but having graphics worse than sims 1 is just not worth it 😦

I have a 13 inch macbook pro retina with an Intel Iris Graphics 6100 1536 MB

Hi, I tried the work around for my early 2015 macbook pro 13 inch retina and unfortunately it didn’t fix anything. One thing I noticed though, the instructions say to make a note of the vendor ID as well as the Device ID but then only ever say to sub in your individual Device ID. Was the Vendor ID supposed to be used somewhere?

I’ve tried to fix my 2015 MacBook Pro with your tuto and it sometimes work. I tried to change the resolution following your advices but it didn’t work and I don’t remember the original resolution that I would like to put again, can you tell me its value please ?
Thank you for your tuto, it was very helpful!

I’ve try to fix my MacBook Pro following your advices and it sometimes work at random. The thing is that i’ve edited the resolution and I don’t remember it’s original value, can you tell me which was it ?
Thank you for your tuto, it was very helpful!

I have an early 2015 macbook pro with retina and tried the following steps, but i could not to get to the part where the searchbox was needed, i couldnt pull up :elseif (match(“${cardName}”, “*IvyBridge*”)) and then when i tried to save my text after putting in the deviceid, it never asked me if i wanted to override, is that a problem?

Unfortunately it didn’t work for me 😦 I have the Early 2015 MacBrook Pro (13″, Intel Iris Graphics 6100) and I followed your directions to a T. I tried to open it and I’m still getting the blue screen with the green diamond. I even double checked screen to screen to make absolute sure it matched completely. I have three expansion packs, so went ahead and replaced IvyBridge in the GraphicsRules.sgr file for all three, and the screen is still coming up. Do you have any idea of what the problem could be? Any possible solution? Thank you for trying to help us sad little Mac Simmers 😦

I have a Mid-2014 MacBook Pro, but with a 2.6 GHz core and an Intel Iris 1536 graphics card. I saw Mid-2014 on your list, but because the numbers were different I wasn’t sure if I use a different process. I have no problem loading or playing the game, but after a period of time it does start to get a big funky and rainbowy and makes it very difficult to use build or buy mode (half the graphics just aren’t there so I don’t know what I’m clicking on in the menus).

If this is the problem that this tutorial is meant to alleviate, then can you please point me in the direction of which link I should use?

So I followed all of the steps set for my Mac (I triple-checked the ID number) but it still loaded with rainbows, and once the game loaded play was stunted and a bit bumpy (the Sims weren’t moving smoothly with the clock) and then one just turned invisible entirely. Also, Memories and Tutorial notifications kept popping up even though I had them disabled in options (I went back to check, re-enabled them, then disabled them again, and they kept coming up anyway).

I have a Mid-2014, as I said before, and followed this page as well as the tutorial for “Mid 2014 Retina 13″ MacBook Pro, Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,1 (Intel Iris 5100, Haswell)”

Yes, the Intel graphics you have are not compatible with the game. This fix is a sticking plaster, EA need to release a patch to support the Intel Iris cards but they never will as they are done with Sims 3, especially on the Mac as they were using a 3rd party to wrap the game using Cider. Have you tried with just the base game?

Hi BluebellFlora, first of all thank you for the solution, but somehow it didn’t seem to be working for me. I want to try out a new possible solution, which is by installing Sims 3 via CD (there are CD entries which you can connect to your MacBook Air via USB). Do you have any confirmation on the possibility of it working? Thank you in advance.

The issue is caused by unsupported Intel graphics, it has nothing to do with which media you are using to install and play the game. If you decide to play the game from the DVD you should be aware of this issue if you are running El Capitan.

Luckily I am running Yosemite. Anyway so are you saying that no matter which media I use to install and play the game, there will be the same problem? Because all the posts that I’ve seen about this problem had a “(origin download)” in their title?

Yes, it is a hardware issue. If you open the GraphicsCards.sgr file you will see a long list of all the supported graphics cards. If your Intel chip isn’t there then it is unsupported and not compatible with the game. I have read thousands of post on this issue in the last 2-3 years, the users are playing both disc and digital copies of the game (or attempting to!).

I have a 2016 iMac with an Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 card. I do not have a retina display. The only expansion packs I have are loft stuff, nightlife, and pets. The game will load and play but will crash randomly based on sim graphic glitches I believe. A sim or a pet will turn all green and red and wierd colored while in edit mode or as a screen loads and the crash usually happens right after that. Sometimes the buttons and things will disappear as well even though I can still click on them if I put the mouse in the right place.

After having it crash several times in family edit mode I found a work around simply by increasing all the details levels of the graphics from mid or low to high on everything. Now that my game is progressing and there are more custom details popping up like randomly generated horse coats and new random looks on sims it is crashing again.

Any ideas? My mac is newer than all the models listed in the post here and I am running on El Capitan.

Yes, you have this issue – unsupported graphics. You need to edit files as discussed in the article. I believe your Mac is the Late 2015 21″, model identifier 16,1 with Intel Iris Pro 6200? If I’m wrong please can you provide the model identifier?

Yes you are correct. I’m sorry I am not really familiar with computer stuff. I have used the fixes provided and it seems to work so far. I get an error now that says my graphics card isn’t supported but it hasn’t crashed yet. I will test out making a new family with all custom color cloths, etc. today and see if that causes any crashes. Thank you for your hard work on this.

No worries 🙂 Can I ask what lines you put in the Graphics files to make it work? It will help others with the same Mac as you because I haven’t had a definitive answer from another user which is why your Mac doesn’t have a specific page.

Alright so I replaced the lines as described in the fix for the Intel HD 6000 post with IntelHD6200. When I did that it made my map disappear. So I put the original files back in the Sims3 original game folder and just added a few lines to the graphics rules file in the expansion pack for Pets.
The lines I inserted have a little + behind them.
elseif (match(“${cardName}”, “*4?00*”))
seti cardLevel $cardLevelLowmedium
seti isCardMatched true
elseif (match(“${cardName}”, “*SandyBridge*”)) +
seti cardLevel $cardLevelMedium +
seti isCardMatched true +
elseif (match(“${cardName}”, “*IntelHD6200*”)) +
seti cardLevel $cardLevelMedium +
seti isCardMatched true +

So far my map is back and the weird glitches with coats and custom clothing seems to still be happening but it hasn’t crashed. It does seem as though some glitch has happened with my butler. He gets out of bed and just disappears.

Oh that’s great, thanks! The map thing seems intermittent so don’t be surprised if it disappears again. I don’t think the butler disappearing is linked, that sounds like a different issue. Have you tried using NRaas Errortrap? It’s a great Mod.

I can’t find where to put card0xc8:e0:eb:32:7f:ad “IntelIrisPro”
card0xc8:e0:eb:32:7f:ad “IntelIrisPro”
card0xc8:e0:eb:32:7f:ad “IntelIrisPro”
card0xc8:e0:eb:32:7f:ad “IntelIrisPro”
card0xc8:e0:eb:32:7f:ad “IntelIrisPro”
card0xc8:e0:eb:32:7f:ad “IntelIrisPro”
card0xc8:e0:eb:32:7f:ad “IntelIrisPro”
on my World Adventures EP!!!! 😦 also thank you so much for the help ❤

Hi, I have a Macbook Pro 9,2, and each time I try to open Sims 3 from Origin, I get ‘An Unknown Error Occurred’.
There doesn’t seem to be a guide for my type of mac, so I was wondering if you could tell me what I should do to get the game working?

Just got a Macbook Pro of the “Early 2015 Retina 13″ MacBook Pro, Model Identifier: MacBookPro12,1 (Intel Iris 6100, Broadwell)” variety. I have Sims 3, World Travels, Generations, and Seasons. I followed the advice on this page and was able to update GraphicsCards.sgr for the base game as well as GraphicsRules.sgr for the base game and Seasons; however, the other 2 expansions didn’t have “IvyBridge” anywhere in TextEdit. I changed what I could and the ‘game mode’ graphics are great, but when I go to the ‘edit town mode,’ I see icons, but no picture (it’s just all light blue with the icons indicating houses, lots, etc.). Any advice?

I have the late 2013 Retina Pro 15″, and as per usual my problems are with Late Night and Ambitions as well as the two stuff packs Fast Lane and Outdoor Living stuff. Everything else functions but those two. I don’t even see the packs installed in my folder despite seeing everything else. I’m going to try this fix but I’m wondering if you have any suggestions or have heard of anything being done. I have the physical CD’s for those packs as well, so I’m wondering if I install them they might work since they are the Mac/CDROM Compatible?

I’m currently running the Sierra, but my graphics are this: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2048 MB
Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB With the 2.3 GHz. I mean It’s just the oddest thing, in my opinion, that the other EP’s and SP’s work except for those two EP’s and Sp’s. I’ll try and let you know if it goes through- if not I suppose I just have to get used to playing with no Bridgeport huh lol?

Hello! I have the early 2016 Macbook Intel HD Graphics 515 1536 MB. I have recently downloaded my Sims 3, Generations and University life. Everything was fine. Then, I went to open the actual gameplay for the first time. For a mere shining second the green plumbot with the blue screen had appeared. Then… black screen with nothing but my mouse. The only way I could get out was by restarting the computer using the power button and left-click hold-down. If you would be so kind to help me you would make my simming life. Thanks.

I have a late4 2014 27 inch iMac with retina display…help? The base game works but it does not work once I install expansion packs. Late Night, University Life, Ambitions, Island Paradise, Pets, World Adventures and Supernatural…

Thanks a lot for spending your time and energy on helping people with this!
I did the graphics fix for MacBookPro12.1, plus I downloaded the origin update (https://bluebellflora.com/2016/02/19/new-sims-3-update-for-mac-users/).
I know it said that there’s still issues with this Mac, but for the first time (!) I actually got past the blue screen with the green plumbob!! For a while everything seemed fine (except the neighborhood was completely gray), but after playing around in CAS for a while, I started getting more trouble with the graphics. Some of the stuff was invisible, and then I couldn’t see the buttons to save the sim etc.
Could it just be the origin update, and not that the graphics fix doesn’t work properly? Because here it says that I have version 10.3.3.1865 – 0, and not 9.11.6.18959 as it says it should be in your article.

Oh, and forgot to mention that now I can’t get past the blue screen again.
And I think the reason I have a different version of Origin is that when I started it for the first time after downloading, it started updating Origin automatically.

Okay, so when I followed these steps and commented that it didn’t work properly, I had Mac OS Yosemite. Yesterday I upgraded to Mac OS Sierra, and since that I’ve been playing for ten hours!! It finally works

I tried all of the graphic things on my early 2015 13″ MacBook Pro retina with the Intel Iris 6100.
I also tried it without launcher, as well as with the launcher, but it just doesn’t start up further than the Blue screen with the green diamond.

can someone help please? – i’m trying to help my girlfriend with this.

I have a mid 2012 MacBook Pro and I cannot download Nightlife. If I do, I get the “Unknown error occurred” message. My other expansion packs work though. I heard there were problems with Sierra and that it was due to the graphics. Is there anyway I can get Nightlife back?

By wiping your Mac and reinstalling up to Yosemite. Late Night and Ambitions are pretty much unplayable in El Capitan and Sierra. There were a few 2012 MacBook Pro models though so it would help if you were a little more specific 🙂

owww 😦 I’ve tried to type in my hardware in the .sgr files like the threads I found in the forums. No luck. though I might be doing it wrong too haha Does the .sgr files for files that do not show when installed? Like in my case, it goes through install but the shortcut doesn’t appear in my app files.

I have tried to follow this guide but get stuck. I had a mid 2012 macbook and it says you need to add to the .sgr file, but my ID numbers are already in it. My game still runs except I can’t see the town on map view. I can still click on the locations and go there, but it actually takes a lot from the game. The latest version I have is University

Hi, I have an Early 2015 MacBook Pro with Intel Iris 6100. I never had an issue loading the game, but the graphics were terrible – very pixelated and low-quality. I followed the steps for that device, and when I loaded up the game, the entire town was grayed out. I also got a message upon reaching the loading screen that said my video card was unrecognized. Did I do something wrong??

I too have the Macbook 12,1 and did all the steps regarding changing the graphics files but still stuck on the plumbob screen and receiving the error “The Sims 3 quite unexpectdely”. I have the version 1.67.2.024017 if that means anything.

I have a Late 2017 27-inch retina 5k iMac with AMD Radeon R9 M390 2048 MB graphics. Do you have a work around for this model? I tried the 8800M Series entry that worked for and earlier card in the family but it did not work.

What is your opinion about trying it through boot camp? – i have an early 2015 MacBook Pro retina and nothing works for me. I tried all of your tipps and it keep getting stuck in the launcher.
So maybe better with windows? – or is it the same problem with incompatibility?

It will probably work in Windows because even though I don’t think the Intel Iris is supported, you will still be able to play after getting the unrecognised video card error. TS3 is native in Windows, it’s ‘wrapped’ using Cider for Macs which is why it doesn’t work properly.

First of all thank you so much for putting all of this together.
I have an early 2015 Macbook Air (13 inch), with Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 MB. I have followed the instructions you laid out in the fix, but I still can’t get past the blue screen with the plumbob.
At this point, would you just recommend I give up and try to get TS4 instead? Many of the comments I see with the same model (2015 13″ macbook air) as me did not seem to get their game to work.

I used your fix for the unknown error and it was brilliant, got my game working, went through the reinstall process for all my packs and then the store content. Then my game started crashing every time I tried to load clothing in CAS. I tried your fix for graphics and now I can see the water, but the map is just a grey blob and I can’t tell where lots are or anything. It’s also got my graphics settings all stuck to the lowest possible and if I try to raise them and restart my game they reset. Any suggestions?

That’s normal with the map, there seems no way round that that I have come across unfortunately. You could try dragging the Options.ini file to the trash and then reload the game again for the low settings. You could also try editing the GraphicsRules.sgr file a bit more. Where it says:

Ye… but how do I fix the problem? I haven’t played on my MBP for a while, not since 2015. But when I’m trying to play it right now, I get stuck on a blue screen or the screen doesn’t even show at all! Help please?

Hi Bluebell,
I’ve been having trouble with my sims 3 for a week or so now after installing them on to my MacBook Pro, to make a long story short, my mac used to run on Yosemite, I had issues with certain expansions not coming up on the launcher and then the launcher not coming up at all, after hours of reading through forums and trying all of your tips, the only way I managed to fix it was updating to Sierra and doing a whole uninstall/reinstall, everything was where it should be and the launcher actually launched again

Which brings us to my next issue, now that everything is working again, after hitting play in the launcher, I am stuck on the blue screen with the plumbob and cannot go any further and am desperate to fix this so I can finally play my sims games again

I don’t know what to suggest, apart from a complete uninstall and reinstall. Your graphics chip is supported so no need to edit the .sgr files. Unfortunately the game is so buggy on Macs that it’s difficult to pinpoint the problems sometimes. Sorry 😦

I have an 11-inch MacBook Air from early 2014 (Model MacBookAir 6,1) with an Intel HD Graphics 5000. I was wondering if there is a fix somewhere for my mac, or if I can use one of the above fixes? I keep having the same problem – The Sims 3 loads the beginning screen but then is stuck on the blue splash screen. I’ve tried updating the game, and then reinstalling without updating it, and it still keeps having the same problem. Appreciate the help! 🙂

Hi Bluebell! I am the proud owner of a brand-new MacBook Pro that has OS 10.12.5 (Sierra) and this is the graphics card: Intel HD Graphics 630 1536 MB. So I’m proud, but frustrated. It doesn’t want to play TS3. I have WA, Ambitions, and Generations EPs. I’m not really interested in TS4, but I had expected TS3 to work on my shiny new Mac. I even bought an external disc drive just for that purpose (since I have disks, not downloads). It gets to the starter screen but then stays black after I click Play. Any hope here?

I saw that there is a separate issue with Ambitions, but the description of that problem says it gives an error message. Mine just stopped everything. Thanks for any help!

If your Mac is the 2011 model then it most likely has Intel HD 3000 graphics which are supported so this article is irrelevant to you. Your issue is something else. I have covered all the main issues under the Sims 3 drop down menu items above, specifically the Unknown Error message and Packs not showing as installed.

My mac seems to do this too. it will load the launcher and show the blue screen with the plumbob then gives the error “device 0 cannot run this title. your video card does not appear to support at least shader model 2.”
My mac is an iMac 2017 with a processor of 2.3 GHz intel core i5 and a graphics card of Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 1536 MB.
please can you help?

I have a Mid 2014 Retina 13″ MacBook Pro and I have followed the instructions you gave on the website with editing the specific .sgr files for my Mac model. But when I started up the game again, it is still stuck at the blue plumbob screen. Also, I am only playing the base game, not using any expansion or pack. Do you have any ideas what I should do or if I am missing anything?

Hey, I have an iMac Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017 (model identifier iMac18,2) with the Radeon Pro 560 and got it running via skipping the launcher BUT the graphics are just awful. Do you have a fix for this? If you’ve already posted a fix for it, I couldn’t find it and I’m sorry for bothering you, if you would mind please let me know where to find it. I just want to get this game up and running nicely 🙂 Thanks so much!

Are all settings on high in game? I have the Radeon Pro 560 4Gb in my MBP and the game looks and performs great, after fixing the Unknown Error issues. I didn’t need to edit the .sgr files as even though the GPU isn’t supported it just comes up with the unrecognised video card error.

Brilliantly and clearly explained, thank you!
Just a little note in case it helps anyone else;
after I completed these steps and opened up my game, it still looked godawful until I changed the screen resolution in the options menu, then suddenly, my game looked near-perfect!
So do not fear until you have actually changed the resolution.
Thanks again! x

Hey, so I just wanted to add – I use a 2017 MacBook Pro, 13-inch with the Touch Bar to be more exact (which uses Intel Iris Plus graphics). I was getting errors until I swapped the IvyBridge text to “IntelIrisPlus”, and then it started working. Do you think it may be worth amending your post to list that as a known issue and a possible fix?

The game works, but the downside is that I can’t adjust any of the graphics settings at all. They’re all automatically set to low settings, and if I even attempt to change them, the game goes completely black (and left cyan markings all over the screen when pulling up the menu) and then turned into really harsh neon colors on restarting. I don’t really know if that’s fixable, which is admittedly rather disappointing – I had a Mac Mini with NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics years ago, and it could take higher settings than this far more powerful computer… /rant

Oh that is SO helpful – thank you so much! Just to confirm, you replaced IvyBridge with IntelIrisPlus in both the GraphicsCards.sgr and GraphicsRules.sgr files? I’ll add this info to the post. Please could you confirm the model identifier of your Mac too, is it MacBookPro 14,2?

Hi, I’ve flooded your helpful tutorial in regards to the fix for incompatible graphic(I have a 15′ MBP late 2013) and it worked wonderfully with the base game. Unfortunately I tried to edit the graphics card and graphics rule the same way as I did with the base game, and I could not seem to locate the Ivy bridge in the EP, as it seems to be non-existant…(I’m trying to install World Adventures). Would you have any solution to this problem?

This doesn’t work for me, as the ‘GraphicsCards’ and ‘GraphicRules’ .sgr files DO NOT exist on my Mac (2016 MBP/discrete GPU/High Sierra). As they pertain to the game, not the OS then, presumably, they should be there – any ideas as to why they’re not…?

Base game & EPs were bought and downloaded via Origin (only 2 EPs have actually installed – Pets and Seasons). The rest are showing as ‘owned’ in Origin, and appeared to download (I have the slowest internet connection known to humanity – average 500kb/s down), but they never installed. Any ideas as to how to fix that – because EA has been worse than useless. It won’t help me because, apparently, there’s a security question set on my account – make and model of my first car. I can’t drive, I’ve never learnt because I have a disability that precludes me from driving (it also precludes me from walking) and yet here we are… that’s the security question that I set on my account, even though I can’t drive and, therefore, have never owned a car. 😠😡🤬🤯

Following this feed and can’t find a solution for my particular iMac, could you help me possibly? My model is: iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015) Processer: 3.3 GHz Intel Core i5. Memory: 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3. Graphics: AMD Radeon R9 M290 2GB.
I’ve tried the above step-by-step guide you posted (really helpful and clear instructions by the way, which is great for a non-tech person like me!!) but got stuck on the details to add to the .sgr files.
I only have the Sims 3 base game installed on my iMac currently, and have uploaded it digitally from my Origin account and it comes up with the dreaded “Unknown Error” message…totally stumped and EA support team are as much use as a chocolate teapot, so hoping you will be able to help me! 🙂

I downloaded the base program through Origin. It opened, said i had an update. I updated it. Launcher loaded. But I wanted my CC, so I closed it and added a bunch, thinking nothing of it. Now the Launcher won’t even load. I’ve deleted it a few times, and tried reinstalling; but every since then it gives me the “Unknown error…” just by clicking on the Sims Icon.

Hi!
I had a question, I have a MacBook Air, 13″ from late 2015. I tried this fix and it actually worked fine, with just the base game. But when I installed world adventures (I also wanted to install ambitions and late night afterwards), I get the “unknown error occurred” again… Now I wanted to do as suggested (edit the files in the same way as with the base game), but I can’t seem to find the same text in the GraphicsRules.sgr from world adventures, so I can’t replace it… Does anybody know what else I can do or how I can fix this? I finally want to be able to play my sims 3 again 😦

Hi, I tried it but it won’t work again. I was prompted for an update when I installed WA, so I am guessing that is the problem. How can I delete it? Just uninstall WA again and do it again? Thank you for your help!

I have a late 2012, 13″ Macbook pro, with a model identifier of 9,2 and Intel HD Graphics 4000. I would really appreciate help, I bought my sims recently and it’s really not working. I’ve tried to go under “how to play sims” but nothing really worked.

Your hardware is supported. Which version of macOS are you running? Anything past 10.8 Mountain Lion is not supported, 10.11 El Capitan and later really cause issues. You need to also be a little more specific with your issue please 🙂

It’s macOS Sierra 10.12.6. I installed and uninstalled my sims, it will get to the main page, where we click to start the game, and it won’t go past it. Sometimes it goes to the black screen, but that’s it.

I have a Macbook Pro 13″ with touch bar. My Model identifier is MacBookPro 13,2 and my graphics card Intel Iris Graphics 550. None of these workarounds have worked for me. I’ve tried typing in IntelIrisPro, IntelIrisGraphics, IntelIrisGraphics550, IntelIrisPro550, any other suggestions?

Hi again,
so I tried it but it didn’t work. My Mac is a 11,1 with Retina Display – so it should work, i guess.
Some questions because obviously I must be doing something wrong :

When you say changing the files in the EPs, too, do you mean the EPs IN the last EP ?
Like i opened the basegame and changed the files. Then i opened Into the future and changed the files.
But when you open the package content OF Into the future there are all the Eps listed as well.

Shall I change all EP Cardfiles IN the package contant of Into the Future or shall i open the package content of each EP and change the files there.
Or shall I change both ?

Also, if there isn’t any GraphicsCards.sgr in the other EPs, you mentioned you could fill it in there, if it still isn’t working. You mean copy the changed GraphicsCards.sgr file of the basegame and fill it in, right ?

Also, when i change the file via textedit I just save it right ? It’s changed if I open it again.
Because some people where talking about overriding but this just means saving/changing the file ?

Hi, I have a MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) running on macOS High Sierra Version 10.13.5. I have a 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 with Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640. I’ve followed all the steps (including adding 640 to “IntelIrisPlus”), however, nothing works and I still get the Unknown Error message (just installed the base game, nothing else yet). Anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated – I just got this Macbook hoping that TS3 would work better and I’m frustrated to see it’s doing the opposite.

Hi, I have a Mid 2014 iMac and I started my Sims 3 game and got all the way to where I had the option of choosing if I wanted to create a sim or move into a household, etc. But then I remembered that I forgot to install all my expansion packs from my other computer after downloading a ton of CC onto this Mac. After installing all of my expansion packs, I tried to get back onto the game and I got the “Uknown error occurred” popup message from the Island Paradise Launcher and I googled everything and tried uninstalling Origin and Uninstalling all my expansion packs and much more and nothing worked and I’m still getting the same error message from the Island Paradise expansion pack which doesn’t make any sense because I thought I installed it and it’s really irritating because it worked earlier today but now it isn’t. I saw that Sims 3 really doesn’t work on post 2013 Macs but mine was working until it wasn’t. Help! Thanks.

Hello
I have the MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch (Late 2013) with Intel Iris 1536 MB Graphics. My Mac is not listed here and I have tried the super-patcher. Still not working. When I launch the Sims 3 I get a pop up straight away saying “Unknown error occurred”

I used to have the Sims 3 and expansion / stuff packs installed a couple of months ago and was able to play fine. I uninstalled it due to low space on harddrive but wanting to reinstall it now. Any help would be great.

hi there i am experiencing issues as described however the specs of my Mac are not listed in the post and I am a little confused as to what to do.
I have a 15″ MacBook Pro with touch bar
the graphics cards are:
– Intel HD Graphics 630
– Radeon Pro 555

I have a late 2013 MacBook Pro11,3. It has the Intel Iris Pro 1563MB and NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M. I didn’t see it listed but I’m also getting the “unknown error”. It’s a new-to-me MacBook and I just got it today, factory reset. I only installed the base game but I’m still getting the error. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I’ve downloaded the base game and am getting the unknown error message. Tried all the fixes in the unknown error post on this site but with not luck so tried this. I have a 15inch 2018 macbook pro, Intel UHD Graphics 630 graphics card. Followed these steps but used “IntelUHDGraphics630” instead of IntelIrisPlus but with no luck. Any thoughts? Game has never played or even got to the launcher

I have two cards – Radeon Pro 455 2 GB & Intel HD Graphics 530 1536 MB and getting the unknown error after Late Night and the High End Loft Stuff installs – worked ok before this. No idea what I’m supposed to do…!

Hi Can you please help me? I tried this and its not working. I cant even get into the game.. it just says “unknown error”
0x162b
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015
2.7 GHz Intel Core i
Intel Iris Graphics 6100 1536 MB

I’m attempting to reinstall the sims 3 on my MacBook Air. I was able to do lots of other fixes just to get the game to open and I can finally load the base game and play. My complaint is that the graphics are SO poor. The default graphics settings are low or off and honestly, I just want to have a better graphics. Any thoughts?